The Winchester location is 1,178 square feet built in 1994. It sits on 0.13 acres on the south side of Winchester east of Ridgeway Road. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2010 appraisal was $219,100.

The Elvis Presley location is 8,412 square feet and was built in 1978. It sits on about one acre at the northeast corner of Elvis Presley and Wesley Drive. The assessor’s 2010 appraisal was $641,600. The financing includes a vacant 0.7-acre parcel behind the store, at the northwest corner of Wesley Drive and Pace Street. The assessor’s 2010 appraisal was $44,400.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Kate Simone

Higgins Named District AG’s Communications Director

Vince Higgins is the new communications director for the district attorney general’s office. Higgins was named by Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich, who took office in January.

Higgins is a veteran Memphis Police Department officer, joining the department in 1990. He served as MPD public information officer from 2004 to 2008.

After leaving the department, Higgins was city permits administrator and executive secretary of the Memphis Alcohol Commission.

Higgins succeeds Jennifer Donnals, who left to become communications director for Tennessee Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons. Gibbons was district attorney general before becoming part of Gov. Bill Haslam’s cabinet.

– Bill Dries

Leveritt Speaks on Media Role in West Memphis 3 Conviction

Author, investigative newspaper and Web reporter Mara Leveritt will be the guest speaker at the University of Memphis’ 27th Annual Freedom of Information Congress, March 24 at 7 p.m. in the Michael D. Rose Theatre & Lecture Hall.

The event is free and open to the public, with a reception starting at 6 p.m., and will concentrate on her reporting mostly on the criminal justice system. Leveritt’s 2002 book, “Devil’s Knot,” accounts the legal irregularities that followed the sensational murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis in 1993. The murders led to a conviction of three local teenagers, best known as the West Memphis Three.

In her lecture, Leveritt will focus on the role the news media played in helping to convict Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin of murder and its role in attempting to overturn the convictions.

The event is sponsored by the University of Memphis Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Department of Journalism and the student Events Allocation Committee.

– Allison Buckley

Memphis Restaurants Host RMH Family Meals

A number of local restaurants, businesses and organizations have committed to providing meals for the families of Ronald McDonald House of Memphis while the facility’s community kitchen, used daily by 31 families, undergoes renovations.

Ronald McDonald House serves as a home away from home for families staying in Memphis while their children undergo treatment for cancer and other catastrophic illnesses.

Renovations to the facility’s kitchens began last week thanks to a $100,000 donation by Sky High for St. Jude, an organization that raises funds, builds awareness and hosts an annual event for the children of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Memphis.

With 400 to 500 families staying at Ronald McDonald House annually, the wear and tear on the fixtures, cabinetry and flooring is significant. The organization’s Memphis board of trustees launched a total facility renovation campaign to the almost 20-year-old house, which includes the kitchen, living room and dining room; 51 bedrooms; new furniture and fixtures; and the addition of a facility for storing cribs, high chairs, wheelchairs and pantry items.

The kitchen will be out of commission for about two months, and there are still several days in March and April when volunteer groups are needed to provide meals for the children and families of Ronald McDonald House of Memphis. For more information, visit www.rmhmemphis.org.

– Aisling Maki

Theatre Memphis Announces 2011-2012 Season

Theatre Memphis has announced its play selection for the 2011-2012 season.

“Bye Bye Birdie” will kick off the season Aug. 19 at the 400-seat Lohrey Stage. Other Lohery Stage productions will include Jane Austen’s “Emma,” Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” the popular musical “Chicago,” and the comedy “Noises Off.” The Lohrey Stage season will end with the musical “No, No, Nanette,” and “A Christmas Carol,” as a special holiday offering that will be performed for the 34th consecutive year at Theatre Memphis.

The Next Stage season will include David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “GlenGarry Glen Ross”; “Sondheim Concert,” an original concert version of Stephen Sondheim songs; “Circle Mirror Transformation”; and “Hedda Gabler” by Henrik Ibsen.

Willow Lake Sale Moved to April 8

The foreclosure sale of the 17-building, mixed-use Willow Lake Business Park and Corporate Park in Hickory Hill has been postponed until Friday, April 8, at noon at the Shelby County Courthouse, 140 Adams Ave.

The foreclosure is being pursued because borrowers of the mixed-use property – listed as five separate Delaware limited liability companies related to Chicago-based HSA Commercial Real Estate – defaulted on a $67 million loan through Countrywide Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc. dated Dec. 28, 2006. That loan was later assigned to LaSalle Bank National Association and then to U.S. Bank NA.

Visible School Presents Spring Recital Series

Graduating seniors at Visible School, a music and worship arts college, will be hosting their Spring Recital Series, a set of farewell concerts, beginning Saturday, March 26, and running through May 6.

Students will produce the series as a final course component, applying principles they have learned throughout their studies at Visible School. This year’s performances will highlight the talents of students majoring in percussion, vocals, songwriting, guitar and worship leadership.

Kirov Named to Post at Seattle Symphony

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra’s assistant conductor, Stilian Kirov, has been appointed conducting fellow for the Seattle Symphony’s 2011-2012 season.

The new position was created especially for Kirov by the Seattle Symphony’s Music Director Designate Ludovic Morlot, who said he was “quite impressed with Stilian Kirov” during the auditions.

“We were inspired to create a new position for him … where he will have great opportunities to work with me and my colleagues next season during his residency,” Morlot said in a statement.

Kirov joined the Memphis Symphony Orchestra this year as assistant conductor and the Memphis Youth Symphony Program as music director. He will have his Masterworks debut with the Memphis Symphony this weekend when he conducts Jonathan Dove’s “Magic Flute Dances.”

– Allison Buckley

Rhodes Law Institute to Examine Guantanamo

Rhodes College will present the 24th annual Institute on the Profession of Law March 31 focused on “The Response: Legal and Ethical Considerations of U.S. Treatment of Guantanamo Bay Detainees.”

The program will be held from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Bryan Campus Life Center Ballroom. It will include the award-winning movie “The Response” about the legal and ethical challenges of enemy detention. It will be followed by a panel discussion.

The program has been approved for two hours of dual legal education credit in Tennessee and Arkansas. Tuition for one person is $100. Registration begins at 3 p.m., and participants can pay the day of the event. Register in advance by calling the Rhodes Meeman Center at 843-3965.

– Andy Meek

Saberi Speaks About Imprisonment in Iran

Roxana Saberi, an award-winning journalist who was imprisoned for 100 days in Iran, will lead a community conversation March 24 at 7 p.m. at Hutchison School, 1740 Ridgeway Road.

The event, sponsored by Facing History and Ourselves and The Allstate Foundation, will feature Saberi’s story, which is also detailed in her book “Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran.”

Saberi was working as a freelance reporter in Tehran, Iran, when she was accused of being a U.S. spy and sentenced to eight years in prison. She served 100 days in the notorious Evin Prison before being released following an international uproar.

“Roxana Saberi shares a powerful story of courage, compassion and participation from her own experiences and those of others,” said Rachel Shankman, senior director of Facing History and Ourselves’ Memphis office, said in a statement.